


Observing

by CuriosityRedux



Series: Dragon Drabbles Berk [56]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hiccstrid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-30 04:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16757431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriosityRedux/pseuds/CuriosityRedux
Summary: Astrid and Hiccup share a night together on the beach.





	Observing

The sand of this island is perfect– soft and still warm from the sun’s rays. It isn’t itchy or grainy, and it doesn’t dig into Astrid’s skin. It’s perfect, like the rest of the island. This night is perfect. This  _moment_  is perfect.

She really wishes she could steady the fluttering of her heart inside her breast. The rest of the group has long been sleeping, but her barely-bridled excitement keeps her awake. The moon is still large and bright, casting a cool glow over the beach and illuminating the strands of bronze in Hiccup’s hair. 

She should look away. He fell asleep still trying to discuss the possibilities of new islands, new dragons, new discoveries, so his lips are still parted with the last few words of his sentence. His enthusiasm is her relief. For months now, she’s watched him chase ghosts and scour every surface of the archipelago, coming up empty handed and disappointed. Every time, watching his hopes rise and fall– it was starting to get difficult. 

It was why she’d joined Berk’s Guard. Maybe if he saw that she was moving on, taking on a different kind of adventure, he’d want to follow suit. Maybe he’d look up from the horizon and see the possibilities within his arms’ reach. She’d follow him to the edge of the world, but she was so sure that there was nothing left for him to unearth. Never in her life has she been so happy to be wrong. 

Hiccup’s face lights up when a new species is even mentioned. The brightness in his expression changes a whole room, like a ray of sunlight breaking through a dark window. It’s contagious, exhilarating. The wonder in his features when they discovered the Dragon Eye’s true purpose– she thought her heart might burst just looking at him. He has that power over people, that sway. He has a way of making those around him want to follow and share in his adventures. He shares his joy just by existing. 

Astrid pulls her lower lip into her mouth, taking her chance to shamelessly admire while she has the chance. He’s so near, head pillowed beneath his arm and long legs almost brushing her own knees. She can hear every slow breath as he inhales and exhales, and for some reason, it makes her own quicken. 

After several moments of deliberation, she reaches a hand past the few inches of space between their bodies and brushes his bangs away from his forehead. His hair is soft and silky. Afraid to wake him, she lets her fingertips hover just over his cheek, his jaw, tracing the structure of his face and feeling a smile threaten to steal across her mouth. He’s so peaceful, so relaxed. Even on a strange island miles from Berk, he felt safe enough to fall asleep with his back exposed at her side. Usually it’s pressed to Toothless, but he left himself vulnerable to whisper with her about the opportunities ahead. She’s sure it means nothing to him, but everything to her. 

Her fingers wander further, to the part of his lips. Her thumb just barely brushes the corner of his mouth, and the excited thrill jolts through her hand, up her arm, and into her chest. Her heart slams against her ribcage, wild and enchanted. 

Then he stirs, and she just barely draws back in time for him to rub his forearm across his face. Hiccup mumbles something incoherent and shifts. Astrid holds her breath and prays that he won’t wake to find her staring so creepily at his sleeping visage. 

Somebody must be listening, because not only does he settle again, he rolls his shoulders and squirms closer, lifting his head to tuck hers under his chin. She’s stunned, staring wide-eyed at the moonlit line of his throat filling her vision and trying not to breathe too loudly. His hand is tucked between their stomachs, and her arms are pinned to her chest by his own. She can feel the radiating warmth of him, and the thud of his pulse is palpable against her wrist. 

This is even more than she could’ve asked for. He smells like smoke and dragon scales, and she can make out the stubble on his jaw and throat. After a minute, just in case he’s still just skimming the edge of consciousness, she slowly flattens her hands against his collarbones and loosely knots her hands in his shirt. 

It’s a long time before her racing heart gives up its excited tempo and lets her drift off. It both hinders and helps having Hiccup so close– she’s never felt so safe and comfortable, but she’s also so afraid of missing a second that she can’t make herself fall asleep. She finally does, though, pressing her forehead into his neck and letting the waves syncopate with the sound of his breathing. 

Maybe if she’d stayed awake just a little longer, she might have felt his arm slip around her and heard the soft sigh he smiled into her hair. 


End file.
